Hi,
Good, let's condense my replies a bit and combine several messages in one:
[Paul]
for the battleships I have read that the decks are cleared around the guns
when firing, because the shock wave can be lethal at close range.
I would not be too surprised if that is really true. A thing I have heard,
but of which I've always wondered whether it is true or not, is that the
recoil of firing the big guns of a battleship like the USS Missouri causes
the whole ship (!) to move about 1m of distance in the opposite direction as
to the one in which the shot was fired (which I think typically is
sideways). Now, such a battleship will have, to say the least, a
"considerable weight and size", so the water displacement caused by this
must be enormous, and I'm not sure even guns as big as the ones used on
these ships can pull that off. This is why I always wondered if this was
true or not. Does anyone know for sure?
[Jerry]
Well, not quite. A cartridge is a complete round consisting of;
projectile(bullet), casing, gunpowder and primer. In fixed ammunition such
as you have round and cartridge are the same, or round can refer to the
projectile only.
Hmmm, then I suggest to just use the less ambiguous words "projectile" and
"casing" after all...
The whitish, oxidized metal, is aluminum. It is the ballistic cap that
covers the end of the projectile to give it a good aerodynamic shape.
Yes, that's what I already figured.
AP is, therefore shorter and has an end designed to aid penetration
rather than ballistic flight, therefore it is covered with a cap of
aluminum to provide the same ballistic shape.
I found some good examples of what you write above on the Internet. Here are
some URLs which might be of interest:
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/30mm.htm (HE, HEI, TP versions)
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/m788.htm (TP version)
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/m789.htm (HE version)
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/pgu-15.htm (TP version)
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/pgu-13.htm (HEI version)
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/pgu-14.htm (DU version)
I believe the majority of my 30mm projectiles to be of the first mentioned
TP kind, and I also have 3 of the second type of TP projectiles. As for the
casings: mine are of a different shape. I figure the aircraft that fired
these rounds may not have "wasted" the casings. Still, at least the
projectiles look identical to the ones I found. If you read a bit ahead (to
the part in which I make some remarks on what Chris wrote), you will find
some more URLs, and in the first of them the same type of rounds are shown,
along with the remark that they are for the A-10. Now I wonder what airplane
fired the (differently looking) 30mm casings that I have at home!
The projectiles with the hollow bases contained a tracer compound that was
ignited by the propellant charge when the round was fired. It can give a
smoke trace (German WW II practice) or a bright light, usully red violet.
I suspect these would look different from regular projectiles, right?
I'd like to see some pictures of your artillery cases and shells. As an
ex-redleg I still have a soft spot for them.
You've got it! Give me a week or two and I'll add some to the page.
[Rand]
You are slightly off target on this one also. Metal hulled ships in
the oceans of the world form an electrical cell with the saltwater being
the electrolyte.
[...snip...]
I suppose that aluminium could work for this but I have never seen or
heard of it my 25 years of marine engineering. For sure, that it
wouldn't last very long though. Mostly changing of sacrificial anodes is
done in drydock.
O.k., so Zinc it is I guess. Still, when talking about the projectiles: I
think an Aluminium tip attached to a steel "jacket" will have more or less
the same effect, right?
[Chris]
No Olafo, not failing eyesight. I can still fly and shoot and bomb,
I'm glad to hear that!
but it would mean having to live where I don't want to, to spend more
time away from my family than I want to.
I see the issue.
I started to question my commitment to the RAF. I shall continue flying
little aircraft as an instructor and be the person I want to be from now
on...
Do they still allow you to occassionally fly in jetfighters, or are you
completely "deprived" of them?
Oly content: and when you're away in the desert, there is very little
to get the OMs out for - in my experience anyway.
Sand, sand, and..... more sand?
Ah, Chris: note the above URLs, as well as these ones:
http://www.atk.com/conmun/descriptions/medium-cal-ammo/gau-8.htm
http://www.atk.com/conmun/descriptions/munitioncards/pgu-15.htm
Particularly note that the second picture shows a "cut-through" picture of
the type of projectile I have at home, or that is, it seems to be the real
DU version, as there seems to be a DU penetrator in it.
[Ray]
Check these URLs for some more information about the role of DU in
ammunition:
http://www.atk.com/conmun/descriptions/medium-cal-ammo/gau-8.htm
http://www.atk.com/conmun/descriptions/munitioncards/pgu-15.htm
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/pgu-14.htm
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/du.htm
It seems that perhaps I didn't get my previous message 100 orrect, but
that at least the idea was roughly correct.
Alright, that's all for now from me on this subject.
C-ya!
Olafo
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